1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a front grill structure of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a front grill structure of a vehicle disposed in a front bumper opening formed in the upper portion of a front bumper of the vehicle to introduce engine cooling air.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional front grill structure for a vehicle is disposed in a space surrounded by a front hood, a front bumper and right and left headlamps, which constitute a front body of the vehicle. A front grill is formed such that is long in the vehicle width direction and mounted so as to be located in the upper portion of a front bumper opening disposed in the upper portion of the front bumper to introduce engine cooling air. Further, the front grill has many front grill openings substantially formed through the entire surface thereof, and engine cooling air is taken into an engine area via use of these front grill openings.
As shown in FIG. 6 in a conventional front grill structure for vehicle, a front grill 20a is mounted as close as possible to the front hood 50, between the front hood 50 and a front bumper upper surface 11a, so as not to block a front bumper opening 14a formed above a front bumper 10a. Further, the front bumper 10a has a front bumper reinforcing flange 12a formed along a front bumper opening end 15a, located on the engine area side so as to reinforce the front bumper 10a. 
Further, Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. 59-53150 discloses a double-structure radiator grill having an inner grill and an outer grill. The inner grill is disposed above a front bumper opposing a radiator and has air holes for cooling formed therethrough, and the outer grill is disposed to the outside of the inner grill so as to cover the portions of the inner grill where the air holes for cooling are not formed.
In the conventional front grill structure shown in FIG. 6, when the front bumper 10a, in which the front bumper opening 14a is formed so as to introduce engine cooling air into the engine area, is mounted on the front surface of a vehicle body structural member, the front grill 20a must be mounted on the front bumper 10a so as not to block the front bumper opening 14a. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the front bumper opening end 15a of the front bumper 10a and the front bumper reinforcing flange 12a, which are disposed on the engine area side, are visible through the front bumper opening 14a, thereby reducing the quality of the external appearance of the front surface of the vehicle.
When the front bumper opening end 15a and the front bumper reinforcing flange 12a are covered to improve the quality of the external appearance of the front surface of the vehicle in the conventional front grill structure as shown in FIG. 6, a cover is formed in the front grill 20a itself to cover the front bumper opening end 15a of the front bumper 10a and the front bumper reinforcing flange 12a. When, however, the front grill 20a is formed integrally with the cover, there is a possibility that a dent occurs on the designed surface of the front grill 20a, which is the external view of the front surface of the vehicle because the side wall of the front grill 20a is made excessively thick.
Further, the color tone of the front grill 20a is usually made uniform using a color similar to that of a vehicle body in many cases. In contrast, it is preferable to paint the cover covering the front bumper opening end 15a and the front bumper reinforcing flange 12a a dark color such as black or the like because they are located on the engine area side. Thus, it is advantageous to form the front grill 20a separately from the cover.
The double-structure radiator grill disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. Sho 59-35150 comprises the inner grill and the outer grill. However, the conventional radiator grill does not take the relationship thereof to the front bumper into consideration, and it is only intended simply to improve the radiator grill itself. Further, it is not intended to improve the quality of the front surface of a vehicle in consideration of the positional disposal relationship between the front bumper and the radiator grill because no air hole for cooling is formed in the front bumper itself.
An object of the present invention, which was made in view of the above points, is to provide a front grill structure capable of improving the quality of the external appearance of a front-grill-mounted-portion on the front surface of a vehicle when the front grill is mounted on a front bumper having a front bumper opening.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a front grill structure capable of simply changing the designed surface and the color tone of a front grill according to the external appearance and the body color of a vehicle.
To achieve the above objects, a front grill structure according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a cover interposed between a front grill and a front bumper opening, which is formed in the upper portion of a front bumper to introduce engine cooling air, so as to cover the upper surface of the front bumper.
With this arrangement, a front bumper opening end and a bumper reinforcing flange are covered with the cover. As a result, they are not visible through the front bumper opening, and thereby the external appearance of the front grill structure can be improved. Further, since the bumper reinforcing flange is covered with the cover, it can be formed at any arbitrary height, and thereby the rigidity of the front bumper can be improved.
According to a second aspect of the front grill structure of the present invention, the cover may be arranged separately from the front grill.
With this arrangement, the occurrence of a dent on the designed surface of the front grill can be prevented because it is possible to suppress the side wall of the front grill to a predetermined thickness. Further, when the designed surface and the color of the front grill are changed according to a change of specification and the body color of a vehicle, it is possible to uniformly paint the cover with a dark color.
According to a third aspect of the front grill structure of the present invention, the cover may be clamped between the front grill and the front bumper.
With this arrangement, the front grill and the cover can be reliably secured to the front bumper.
According to a fourth aspect of the front grill structure of the present invention, openings which are larger than the front grill openings, may be formed in the cover at the portion thereof where it overlaps the rear portion of the front grill.
With this arrangement, when the designed surface of the front grill is changed according to a change in specification of a vehicle, the external appearance of the front grill structure is not defaced because the cover is not visible through the front grill openings. Further, the formation of the openings of the cover can reduce the weight of the cover and its manufacturing cost.
According to a fifth aspect of the front grill structure of the present invention, the cover may include a base sheet-shaped section for covering the upper surface of the front bumper, a sheet-shaped section located in the lower portion of the front grill, and a plurality of ribs for coupling the base sheet-shaped section with the sheet-shaped section.
With this arrangement, the rigidity of the cover itself can be improved as well as it is easy to cope with thermal deformation and the like of the cover.
According to a sixth aspect of the front grill structure of the present invention, locking pieces may be disposed on the lower surface of the base sheet-shaped section and inserted into locking holes formed in a bumper reinforcing flange disposed upright on the upper surface of the front bumper at the rear portion thereof so as to mount the cover on the front bumper.
With this arrangement, it is easy to position the cover and the front grill with respect to the front bumper in the backward and forward, right and left, and upper and lower directions. Further, the external appearance of the front grill structure can be improved because the cover can be mounted such that a fixed interval can be secured between the upper surface of the front bumper and the base sheet-shaped section of the cover.
According to a seventh aspect of the front grill structure of the present invention, positioning pins may project from the rear portion of the front grill at the center thereof, and holes into which the positioning pins are inserted, may be formed in the cover and the front bumper, respectively.
With this arrangement, it is easy to position the front grill and the cover with respect to the front bumper.
While the front grill structure according to the present invention is basically arranged as described above, the front grill and the cover may be combined together as a subassembly. With this arrangement, when the front grill is to be mounted on the front bumper, the work of mounting the front grill can be finished only by aligning the subassembly of the front grill and the cover combined together with a predetermined portion of the front bumper, whereby work efficiency can be improved.